{"id":13791,"date":"2026-09-01T12:07:52","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/?page_id=13791"},"modified":"2026-09-01T16:50:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T15:50:35","slug":"homes-heat-and-healthy-kids","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/?page_id=13791","title":{"rendered":"The Homes, Heat and Healthy Kids Study: What is the best way to make homes warmer and make children healthier?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>University of Edinburgh<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Outline<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A major new research study by the University of Edinburgh will link healthcare and housing data for the first-time across Scotland. The <a href=\"https:\/\/homesheatandhealthykids.github.io\/\">Homes, Heat and Healthy Kids Study<\/a> will cover all children under 5 years old in Scotland from 2008-2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Respiratory infections are the main cause of hospital admission in preschool children and preventing these infections will improve lifelong health and reduce healthcare costs. Cold, damp, and mouldy homes are linked to respiratory problems but for the first time we will estimate how many preschool respiratory infections could be prevented by addressing underheating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Retrofitting measures make homes warmer, however some may increase indoor air pollution and mould risk. The study will investigate how different ways of retrofitting homes impacts on childhood respiratory infections. This will ensure Net Zero policies don\u2019t inadvertently worsen health inequalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Research aims<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What is the best way to identify children who are living in cold homes?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How many preschool respiratory infections could we avoid if every home was properly heated?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What are the best retrofitting measures to make a home warmer AND children healthier?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Challenges and opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Respiratory infections are the major cause of illness in preschool children.<\/strong> Childhood respiratory infections have lasting consequences, increasing the risk of asthma and premature adult death. Preventing preschool respiratory infections will reduce lifelong healthcare costs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Housing is the missing link in improving child health.<\/strong> Half of Scotland\u2019s homes have low energy efficiency, making them hard to heat and producing significant carbon emissions. Rising fuel prices and cost of living pressures mean approximately 34% all households live in fuel poverty. Preschool children spend a lot of time at home while their lungs are developing. Cold, damp and mouldy homes are linked to respiratory problems, but we don\u2019t yet know how many preschool respiratory infections could be prevented by addressing underheating.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The health outcomes of different ways to make homes warmer are unclear.<\/strong> The Scottish Government is committed to retrofitting existing housing to increase home energy efficiency for Net Zero targets. Whilst making homes warmer, some retrofitting measures reduce ventilation, decreasing heat loss but potentially trapping air pollutants indoors (e.g., smoke, chemicals, and viruses) and increasing mould risk. We must ensure that in solving one problem, we are not inadvertently creating another. Research on child health after retrofitting is critical to ensuring a just transition to Net Zero.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We can now link up healthcare and housing data for the first time across Scotland. New data developments mean we can now link data on a child\u2019s health with every home they have lived in across Scotland. This means we can look at the link between housing and children\u2019s health in more detail than ever. Our study is creating a new anonymous dataset of all children under 5 years old across Scotland back to 2008. For the first time, we are linking children\u2019s healthcare records with data on retrofitting measures, energy use, smart meters, high street banking, air pollution and climate so we can see for the first time how they combine to affect a child\u2019s health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"424\" height=\"275\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13810\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image.png 424w, https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-300x195.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Research Team and Wider Expertise<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The study is led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.research.ed.ac.uk\/en\/persons\/olivia-swann\">Dr Olivia Swann<\/a>, a children\u2019s doctor and data scientist at the University of Edinburgh. Dr Swann\u2019s research focuses on reducing inequalities in child health. Her previous work on COVID-19 influenced national and international policy (Scottish and UK Governments and the World Health Organization).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The study has brought together a diverse network of stakeholders, including Scottish Government, UK Government Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, Public Health Scotland, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Energy Saving Trust, Poverty Alliance, Data Communications Company (smart meters), and Edinburgh Climate Change Institute.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The study is proud to be working with a new group of families form across Scotland who have challenges heating their homes. The group have helped design the study questions and co-produced a short <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wD4DRF27lAk\">animation<\/a> and powerful <a href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdfEsY7BYDAw%26list%3DPLI0JUzScYjIYk8v8jru9UJICJUKC1IX4B&amp;data=05%7C02%7CScotland.Contact%40cih.org%7Ce5d8f0aec7124c737f5e08df083e4c4a%7C0000e9ea9ee347939563177e444fb497%7C0%7C0%7C639238735925991066%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=gcwL%2BGYJZKYGnYgjFLYREDiOOlAi1EyrikIvL8xR8n0%3D&amp;reserved=0\">personal videos<\/a> to raise awareness of the link between cold, damp homes and childhood chest infections. The parents advising the study have used the work they have done with us to gain SQF level 5 qualifications in Community Leadership, as part of our commitment to capacity building and local leadership.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We have recently developed an interactive online game; \u201cHouse Doctor.\u201d This was co-produced with families with lived experience of hard-to-heat homes and local primary school children to support conversations about healthy homes, heating, insulation and ventilation. Here is a <a href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dropbox.com%2Fscl%2Ffi%2F7yg718pxyebmazxi77l9t%2FHouse-Doctor-2026.mp4%3Frlkey%3Dil042rl5dc0z1r3jrv2pugwde%26e%3D3%26st%3Dtu6a10br%26dl%3D0&amp;data=05%7C02%7CScotland.Contact%40cih.org%7Ce5d8f0aec7124c737f5e08df083e4c4a%7C0000e9ea9ee347939563177e444fb497%7C0%7C0%7C639238735926020496%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=V22%2Bfeddgj7WqKrmwAxbYlUrddXj8JFCF6qPhs1srRI%3D&amp;reserved=0\">video<\/a> of the game being played through and it is available on app stores (for iPads from <a href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dropbox.com%2Fscl%2Ffi%2F7yg718pxyebmazxi77l9t%2FHouse-Doctor-2026.mp4%3Frlkey%3Dil042rl5dc0z1r3jrv2pugwde%26e%3D3%26st%3Dtu6a10br%26dl%3D0&amp;data=05%7C02%7CScotland.Contact%40cih.org%7Ce5d8f0aec7124c737f5e08df083e4c4a%7C0000e9ea9ee347939563177e444fb497%7C0%7C0%7C639238735926020496%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=V22%2Bfeddgj7WqKrmwAxbYlUrddXj8JFCF6qPhs1srRI%3D&amp;reserved=0\">here<\/a> and Android tablets <a href=\"https:\/\/eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.spotd.housedoctor%26pli%3D1&amp;data=05%7C02%7CScotland.Contact%40cih.org%7Ce5d8f0aec7124c737f5e08df083e4c4a%7C0000e9ea9ee347939563177e444fb497%7C0%7C0%7C639238735926180919%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=pNWXNJtteh3k3SiuElxqcz3qrq15FCAMZNTN32VupIc%3D&amp;reserved=0\">here<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>University of Edinburgh Outline A major new research study by the University of Edinburgh will link healthcare and housing data for the first-time across Scotland. The Homes, Heat and Healthy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13791","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13791"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13812,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13791\/revisions\/13812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottishhousingday.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}